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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 0807.PDF
526 FLIGHT MAY 5TH, 1949 HELICOPTERS MAKE HISTORY Two British Types Flown to Paris HISTORY was made last week, when twoBritish helicopters made flights fromEngland to Paris, thus scoring two "firsts." On April 26th the Bristol 171 was flown by Mr. Eric Swiss from Filtan to Orly via Blackbtishe, Lympne and le Touquet. This machine is one of the two prototypes. A third, the Mark II, will make its first flight in the near future and will be powered by the Alvis Leonides engine specially adapted for heli- copter work. The production models now under construction will be known as the Mark III and will also have the Leonides. Apart from being the first British-designed helicopter to cross the Channel, the Bristol 171 was also the first to be granted a special certificate of airworthiness, issued a few hours before the start of the flight. The second helicopter to make the flight to Paris was the Westland-Sikorsky S.51 (Alvis Leonides), which on April 27th joined the centres of London and Paris direct by flying from the Metropolis Garage, Olympia, to the Esplanade des Invalides in Paris, accomplishing the flight in less than 2J hours in spite of an intermediate landing for refuelling at le Touquet. Special precautions had been taken not to announce the flight beforehand, as it was feared a traffic-obstructing crowd might have gathered, but a number of specially invited guests were privileged to watch the start from the roof of the garage, next door to Olympia. Speeches were The Bristol 171 leaving Filton on the first cross-Channel flight by a British-designed helicopter. On the right is Mr. Eric Swiss, the pilot of the machine. NOt taiK-tn£ thlS uut umui. rti uit 1*1 HIWIT has o few words on the subject'Of a fllgnt plan with Jimmy Jeffs, Divisional Air Traffic Control Officer for the London and South Eastern Division, who had forsaken his Heston perch for the occasion. 'ight" pJiotortraph. "Nothing to declare." Mr. A. Bristow and his two passehgets^Col. Prestoq. and Mr. Charles Gardner, get Customs clearance on the roof of the Metropolis Garage, Olympia, before the start of the flight. made by Mr. Lindgren and Mr. John Fearn, managing direc- tor of Westland Aircraft, Ltd. A message was re- ceived from H.R.H. Princess Elizabeth, wish- ing the flight suc- cess. The S.51 was flown_ by Mr. Bristow, and's test ot, and special arrangements had been made for Customs clear- ance to be given on the roof of the garage. The machine had previously been flown to Northolt, and Mr. Bristow brought it from there to Olympia in seven minutes. At the garage he picked up two passengers who were to make the flight with him: Col. Preston, i Secretary-General of the Royal Aero Club, and Mr. Charles Gardner, of the B.B.C. , In his speech Mr. Fearn stated that although they were not aiming at records, they hoped to put British European Airways Corporation '' on the spot'' by doing the city centre to city centre flight in a shorter time than that taken by the airline passengers. In between the arrival from Northolt and the departure for Paris, Mr. Bristow made a short flight with passengers. His handling of the S.51 was superb, and he "planted" the machine exactly on the small white square laid out on the garage roof. A noteworthy fact was that, as Mr. Fitzwilliams informed us, the rotor was in the autorotative range during the approach, so that in the unlikely event of the engine cutting, a safe landing could still have been made on the roof. The flight \ .s made without incident, and the arrival in Paris at the end of what was the first flight between the t o cities by a British- built helicopter, was greeted with enthusiasm
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